These are some ways those of us who had great homemaking mothers are still dealing with lost knowledge. We have the chain, but we let it rust. We listened to lies, or were born at a point of change, or all of the above. Now we’re scrubbing that rust off and polishing those links and trying our best to connect our parts of the chain with other women’s knowledge.

If we want a next generation of women who have a burning hearthlight, we must let them be part of the homemaking. We must include them in the dance of getting food on the table on time, at the same time, and still relatively warm. We must train them in fabric and textures. We must show them and let them experience the delight of nurturing plants and selecting produce. We must showcase merry durability and cheering strength.

I’ve observed women who don’t go into widowhood, old age, or retirement with any response but to focus on themselves, as if their work is done now that they’re a widow, abandoning the next generation of women. I want to encourage women to re-forge the links between maid, matron, and crone, between grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter.